This post is going to sound very similar to yesterday’s, so apologies for repeating myself.

So the latest headline-grabbing wheeze from the government, whose answer to everything is to legislate, legislate, legislate, is to up the prison sentence for motorists who kill people while using their mobiles when driving.

Prison sentences have been available for some time for people causing death by reckless/careless driving. It was interesting to see a woman jailed last week for killing a woman on the motorway; she was over the drink drive limit, & texting on her mobile while travelling at 95mph when she killed someone. She got, I think, six years which was a pretty high sentence for this type of incident.

Do we think the woman sentenced last week, wouldn’t have done it if she’d known she could have gotten 14 years rather than 6, would it have made the slightest bit of difference? No. Because when she did that she didn’t think she’d get caught, she didn’t not do it, if you see what I mean, because the prison sentence wasn’t high enough.

And like I said yesterday, you won’t deter people from using their mobile phones while reducing the traffic departments, taking traffic officers off the roads & sitting them under ANPR cameras and sticking up thousands of speed cameras which can detect bugger all except someone speeding in a 30 metre section of road. Those people who find it acceptable to break the law need to think there is a realistic chance that they will be caught before they decide to comply with the law. Those who obey the laws have no concern whether the prison sentence is 5 minutes or 50 years.

4 comments

Tony F says:

I feel that speeding on it’s own is not that heinous a crime. But when people ignore the posted 30MPH limits driving past a school, it does make you wonder. As for the misuse of lights, especially those little blue LEDs, I wonder if they have even seen the highway code. And don’t get me started on the none use of indicators. All in all, you never really notice the good drivers. What really concerns me, is whether most drivers are even vaguely aware of what is going on around them, I am not the best driver by any means, but….

July 17th, 2008 at
20:42

Ragnar von Spreuth says:

As I understand it, the maximum penalty for causing death by dangerous driving is already 14 years, so HOW is this an “improvement”?

Just wait, NEXT week the news pÃƒÂ¼apers will be full of themselves anouncing the “Governments” imntention to make theft a crime.

Von Brandenburg-Preussen.

July 19th, 2008 at
09:34

Altercation says:

I get your point here 200weeks. But I don’t think there are the resouces to make people feel scared they are going to get caught. I think that driving whilst using a mobile will have to follow the natrual progession that drink driving did. 30 years ago it was perfectly acceptable to drive home after a few drinks. Nowadays the general public really do loathe drink drivers. Probably in 30 years they will loathe people who drive on the mobile in the same manner.

Unfortunately many people will die needlessley between now and then…

July 20th, 2008 at
05:28

Ragnar von Spreuth says:

The differnce being, most people seem to think a telephoone call is their RIGHT. No matter WHERE they are.

Think back on how many face to face conversations you have had broken off because the mobile goes off.